When I was in junior high, I wore Tretorn Nylite tennis shoes. Screw Keds, these were what all the cool girls at my school were into, and at $30 a pop (which is probably heading into the $50 price point, taking inflation into consideration), it was a serious luxury that my great-grandmother felt was an easy way to make me feel special. She was right, plus, they were super comfortable, like walking on marshmallows for the first two months of use, then they were about as kushy and flat as Converse. Eventually, though, I would wear holes in the sides of the canvas (mutant baby toe syndrome) and blam, time for new shoes. Other kids wore Reeboks and the true preppies wore L.A. Gear. Some jocks wore Puma, but usually the weird ones. Most of the time, the guys wore Nike’s and later, Air Jordans. Before the Tretorns, my grandmother would buy Nike’s, although she called them “Nicky’s.”
The vintage shoe thing continues to be super hot, as we Gen Xers try to reclaim some of our youth. I’m excited that Nike is bringing back their old waffle print shoes, and noticed in a recent issue of Self
an advertisment for neon-colored high tops. What’s up with that? Do
you have a hankering to repeat old fashions in your casual wear? Does a
kicky pair of sneakers inspire you to hit the pavement with a little
more verve? Which brands of shoes do you remember being the It Sneaker
and would you still wear them today?
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[…] it was not OUR fault that the selection was crap, it was all on the lousy stores for not stocking the right stuff! When she’d find something for me that fit and was cute, she’d buy one in every color, […]